-
Philippine ports recorded higher cargo, passenger, and shipping traffic in the first half of 2025
-
From January to June 2025, cargo traffic handled by ports under PPA jurisdiction rose 7.8% to 149.234 million metric tons
-
Container traffic were up 11.6% to handled 4.181 million TEUs
-
Passenger and Ro-Ro traffic improved 8.6% and 6.7%, respectively
-
Ship calls to PPA ports grew 7.9% to 337,563 vessels
Philippine ports recorded higher cargo, passenger, and shipping traffic in the first half of 2025, according to preliminary figures from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
From January to June 2025, traffic processed by ports under PPA jurisdiction rose 7.8% to 149.234million metric tons (mt) from 138.492 million mt in the same period last year.
Foreign cargoes, which accounted for 61.2% of the total, grew 6.6% year-on-year to 91.375 million mt while domestic cargoes were up 9.6% year-on-year to 57.86 million mt.
Imports increased 6.3% to 55.552 million mt while exports improved 7.1% to 35.822 million mt.
In terms of regions, Luzon ports contributed 56.4% to the total, while also posting a 14.4% year-on-year increment to 84.192 million mt.
Accounting for 24% were Mindanao ports, which saw a slight 0.4% decline to 35.834 million mt.
Visayas ports, meanwhile, recorded a 0.95% increase to 29.208 million mt.
Container traffic
In terms of container traffic, PPA ports handled 4.181 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first half of the year, up 11.6% from 3.746 million TEUs in the same period last year.
Domestic containers accounted for 34.3% of the total with 1.435 million TEUs, 9.8% higher year-on-year.
Foreign containers likewise grew 12.6% to 2.746 million TEUs with both imports and exports recording double-digit increases in the first half.
Imports were 11% higher at 1.379 million TEUs while exports surged 14.2% to 1.367 million TEUs.
Luzon ports, which contributed the biggest share to the total, increased 13.6% to 3.204 million TEUs. Mindanao ports also recorded a 7.6% increment to 756,265 TEUs while Visayas ports, on the other hand, saw a 1.2% dip to 220,184 TEUs.
Roll-on/roll-off traffic rose 6.7% in the first half to 6.239 million units from 5.849 million units in the same period last year.
Passenger traffic likewise improved 8.6% during the period to 45.304 million from 41.712 million. Cruise passengers soared 91.4% year-on-year to 143,298 in the first half.
Ship calls to PPA ports grew 7.9% to 337,563 vessels as domestic ship calls, which account for bulk of the total, expanded 8.1% to 332,029 vessels. Foreign ship calls, on another note, dropped 1.8% to 5,534 vessels.
For this year, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said they target to handle 301.47 million mt cargoes and 85.41 million passengers.
